Feminisms in neoliberal times. From neoconservative agendas to global protests

This contribution serves as introduction to the Special Issue "Feminism. Historical legacies and current challenges" of the Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia, edited by the two co-authors. Against the powerful anti-emancipatory and destructive forces currently facing people, mass grassroots feminist movements are emerging as part of the wave of transnational protests against the ravages of neoliberalism. Intersectional feminism and feminist solidarity – in contrast to popular and neoliberal feminism – are experiencing new currency on the ground, in the academy, and on social media. These developments are not merely reactive, but are attempts to think and enact feminism anew: feminism as part of a radical transnational, postcolonial, anti-capitalist and eco social justice movement. This introduction explains that the Special Issue hopes to contribute to this «thinking anew» by addressing two main aspects of contemporary feminism: 1. the contradictions of current popular, mainstream and right-wing feminisms, but also 2. the challenges that new theories, movements and global settings pose for social justice feminism today.